Middle pair, 2nd hour, yellow zone

Blinds are 80/160, antes start next round. My M=17.4, and I think I had about an average stack. HOH says small pairs in EP is not a good idea in the yellow zone, but how do I treat middle pairs? I played this aggressively with the thought I needed to accumulate chips. Also thought Button might be in "fit or fold" mode.

What do you guys think about A) raising preflop and B) leading the flop?

Full Tilt Poker Game #963439299: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (6330306), Table 21 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 10:11:00 ET - 2006/09/03

Seat 1: Button (7,435)
Seat 2: SB (9,406)
Seat 3: BB (1,925)
Seat 4: UTG (2,225)
Seat 5: UTG+1 (2,021)
Seat 6: MP1 (2,360)
Seat 7: MP2 (7,294)
Seat 8: MP3 (3,185)
Seat 9: Hero (3,180)

Hero is in the CO with :8d: :8c:

2 folds, MP1 calls 120, 2 folds, Hero raises 360 to 480, Button calls 480, 2 folds, MP1 folds.

*** FLOP ***
:Qc: :5d: :7h:

(pot = 1,260)

Hero bets 960

Meant to post this in the MTT forum. Mods, please move, thank you.